


The Hour of Separation

by twill



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works, The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-24
Updated: 2014-05-24
Packaged: 2018-01-26 08:55:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1682405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twill/pseuds/twill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The greed of a few men leads an unlikely duo and their company on an epic chase across Middle Earth. With the help of friend new and old, Belladonna Baggins nee Took and several heirs of Durin will demonstrate exactly what happens when you get between them and the ones they hold most dear</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there, readers! This was written for the Hobbit Story Big Bang. To be honest, you probably shouldn't get too comfortable with the way this story looks right now, as I intend to add at least an author's note at a later time (aka when the internet at my home is less broken).
> 
> With that in mind, let's get started!

In the year 2864 of the Third Age - or the year 1265 by Shire Reckoning - two rather remarkable people were travelling across Eriador, in different directions and for different reasons.

The first was a hobbit, unusual of her people for the company she kept and the life she led. From a young age the lass had yearned for adventure, and even before coming of age had made fast friends of Men, Elves and even a Wizard or two.

The second person was a king - or he would have been, had he a throne to rule from. Exiled from his home, marked by the deaths of those dear to him, he was certain that his fate was cursed.

The hobbit was travelling east, while the dwarf was moving west. One was returning to a home where she did not fit in amongst her peers, while the other sought to reclaim the realm that had been so cruelly stolen from his people. Neither had any idea that they were destined to cross paths, nor of the events in their futures both near and far that were to unfold as a result.

(And neither could decide at the end if that was for the better or the worse.)

\---

“Glaring at them won’t help.”

“I beg to differ: more than half of those who’ve been staring have found themselves something else to do.”

Belladonna Took bit the inside of her cheek. “You have to admit, we’re not exactly usual sort of pair to pass through the streets.”

Her dwarfish companion shot her a look  should  have been more intimidating for his tattoos and lack of an eye. As it was, Bella had to desperately struggle not to laugh. “Really, Thrain, it’s not that bad.”

“Yes it is.” He turned his glare on yet another unsuspecting gawker, who immediately scurried away. “Besides, I’m doing them a favor: if they have time to stare, they have time to be doing other things. I glare, they go do other things, so less people are staring at us. Everyone wins.”

“There is something wrong with that line of reasoning,” Bella giggled. “I’m not sure what, but there is.”

“When you figure it out, let me know.” Thrain flashed a surprisingly gentle grin at her, one that never failed to make her feel a little weak in the knees.

Bella smiled back. “I’ll do that.”

They continued on through Bree in companionable silence, both aware that this would be their final day of travel together and wanting to savor the experience. Eventually, however, Bree was behind them, and a fork in the road signalled a parting of the ways.

“Well, I suppose this is it, then,” Bella sighed. She turned to the dwarf and held out a hand. “It’s been an honour to meet you, your Majesty.”

Thrain clasped her hand between both of his own. “The honour has been all mine, Mistress Took. I’ll send a letter from my halls once I’ve worked my way into my children’s good graces again.”

“Just stay out of the way from orcs this time and you’ll probably be alright.” With a laugh, each traveller departed in a different direction. Both were certain that they would not see the other again for a very long time.

They were right. It would be thirty years before the dwarf would step foot into the Shire, setting into motion a series of events that would forever shape their fate.


	2. Chapter One

“And  what  do you think you’re doing?”

Bilbo Baggins, all sixty-two centimeters of his little fauntling self, whirled around as his mother’s voice sliced through the kitchen. (Honestly, she was surprised he didn’t fall over.) He favored Belladonna with big blue eyes and a sweet, innocent smile - a smile liberally dusted with fine crumbs. It didn’t help that one pudgy little arm was still elbow-deep in the cookie jar. 

“Good morning Mama!” Bilbo chirped, as if he hadn’t been caught red-handed. He slowly withdrew his arm from the jar, tipping it back into its usual place on the kitchen counter and hopping off the stool his parents used when they were peeling vegetables.

“Good morning, Bilbo,” Bella replied, deeply amused and trying not to show it. “You didn’t answer my question, dear. What were you doing in the cookie jar?”

Her son’s face turned serious. “Papa said that mice must be getting into the cookies, because they were disappearing but no one was eating them,” he said solemnly. “So I was scaring them away!”

“And I suppose that as you bravely defended the cookies from the thieving mice, they escaped and got cookie crumbs all over your face?” Bella asked, idly wondering if her boy really thought he was going to talk his way out of this.

Bilbo quickly wiped a hand over his face in an attempt to remove the evidence. It didn’t help much. “I guess they must have!” he lied straight through his teeth, eyes growing impossibly wider.

Bella hummed. “And by any chance did you happen to see these mice? Because I think,” and here she whipped a handkerchief out of her housecoat pocket and swooped down to scrub vigorously at Bilbo’s face, “I think one of them had curly hair on tops of his head and feet!” She had to raise her voice at the end to make herself be heard over her son’s shrieking laughter, but that was alright. Bella was confident her point had been made.

Soon enough the little boy’s face was clean, and Bella straightened. “You know better than to steal cookies from the cookie jar,  especially  before breakfast,” she lectured, just barely managing to suppress her grin. “Now what do you say?”

“Sor-ry Ma-ma,” Bilbo said obediently, dragging the syllables out in that childish way that meant he really wasn’t sorry at all.

His mother rolled her eyes. “Go get dressed. Remember, you’re going to Tuckborough today.”

With a whoop of delight, Bilbo raced out of the kitchen, stopping only to give his father a smacking kiss on the cheek as the latter walked into the kitchen. “It is far too early for anyone to be as wakeful as that child is right now,” Bungo Baggins complained. He pecked his wife on the lips with a murmured  good morning, love.

“Mm, good morning. And he gets that from the Old Took, I’m afraid. I don’t think there’s ever been a day when he hasn’t risen before the sun.” Bella poked her husband in the stomach and added, “So what’s this about mice in the cookies?”

Bungo groaned. “That boy is a menace, I swear.” At Bella’s quelling look, he slumped and sighed, “I had one cookie, dearest. One! And it was after I finished out in the garden! How was I supposed to know that the lad would notice the disappearance of  one cookie ?”

Footsteps interrupted them before Bella could chastise her husband like she had their son. Both parents turned to the kitchen entrance, where a now-dressed Bilbo was standing with his little going-away rucksack. “I’m ready to go on an adventure, Mama!” 

The Bag-End patriarch rolled his eyes. “You and your adventures,” he grumbled good-naturedly. “That kind of thinking’s going to get you in trouble some day, mark my words!”

“Now, now, Papa, don’t be like that.” Bella kissed his cheek. “Bilbo knows how to be careful, don’t you, love?”

“No!”

That made Bungo roar with unexpected laughter. “What am I ever going to do with you?” Bella sighed, but she was smiling, and didn’t resist the temptation to run a hand through her son’s tousled curls when he ran up to hug their legs.

“Feed me breakfast?” he offered with a cheeky little grin.

“Why you little-! You’ve already eaten all the cookies! Are you not full yet?” Bella poked Bilbo’s stomach as he giggled like a mad thing. 

“No way, Mama! I’m gonna eat  everything! ” 

“Not on my watch you won’t.” With a laugh, Bella herded Bilbo out of the kitchen, through the parlour and into the entrance hall. “Away with you! Go make some room in that tummy of yours. And take this.” She handed him a basket she’d fetched from the pantry (which had been the reason she’d be up in the first place). “Bring this to your Gammer Laura, that should keep you busy for a while! Breakfast will be ready or almost by the time you’re back. No, no, leave your bag, no sense in carrying it all over Hobbiton.”

Though he was reluctant (and very  loudly  reluctant at that) to leave his rucksack, Bella did eventually manage to trade it for the basket and send Bilbo on his way.

“Why was the basket by the front door, anyway?” Bungo asked when Bella re-entered the kitchen. He had already fetched a pot of water from the well and started cutting up the fruit, good man. “I thought I left it in the pantry last night.”

“You did. I moved it next to the door after I got up so that I would remember to send Bilbo over to your mother’s with it.” She lit the stove, set the pot  and dragged a bag of oatmeal out of the cupboard.

“Ah, I see. Good idea, that was.”

“I thought so.”

The kitchen grew quiet after that (or quiet as a kitchen ever gets when it’s in use). Bella enjoyed moments like this, when the comfortable silence spoke of more than a thousand words could ever articulate. 

(Sometimes, in her heart of hearts, Bella regretted leaving her life of adventure. Those quiet moments helped her remember why her decision was a good one.)

Bilbo returned just as Bungo was spooning the porridge into bowls, bringing his bright chatter along with him to the table. 

Bella smiled and sipped her tea. Breakfast would be over soon enough, and there was work to be done after that; elevenses and lunches needed to be packed, Bella needed to visit the marketplace, Bungo had inspections to do, and there was always gardening to be done. But all of that could wait for a bit while Bella enjoyed the company of her family.


	3. Chapter Two

Bella hummed as she meandered down the back road home. It was a beautiful day, and the hobbitess felt no qualms about slowing down to enjoy the summer sun and Yavanna's creations. So enthralled with nature's loveliness was she that it took her several long moments to realize that the sounds being carried on the wind were not just idle converstation, it was an argument. A loud, unhappy argument at that. And it seemed to originate from Bag-End's front door.

Bella frowned. That certainly wasn't what she had expected upon her return.

Keenly aware of the weight of her basket, full with the fruits of her time at the market, Belladonna put on her a smile. It was the one she used on her more annoying relatives, one she knew was little more than a hard line upturned at the corners. After all, anyone who managed to raise Bungo's ire had to be trouble.

Rounding the final corner of the road, Bella called out, "Bungo, dearest, do we have guests?"

Bungo's head snapped towards the sound of his wife's voice. He was standing at the front walk, and just visible behind him were two large and burly-looking folks that Bella couldn't quite see clearly. Only from years of experience could she pick out the anger and fear in the frown that had carved deep lines into his face.

"Possibly," Bungo replied before she could subtly enquire as to what the problem was. "This... gentleman claims to be an old friend of yours. He's a little short for an elf or wizard, however."

That was true, although the taller of the two figures had well over half a head on Bungo in height. A few more steps brought her within viewing distance of the strangers' faces, one of which was indeed familiar.

"That's because they are neither elves nor wizards, love, but Dwarf-folk. Although I suppose there could be dwarrows out there who are wizards as well, I wouldn't know." Moving to her husband's side, Bella let herself grin at the man in front of her. "Thräin Thror-son, what in heaven's name are you doing all the way out here? It's been years since your last letter but I doubt you would come all the way out to Hobbiton to play catch-up."

Thräin did not smile back. The one-eyed dwarf bowed his head and said, "If only that were my reason for coming, I would be a happier man. May we come in? It won't be for very long."

The Baggins couple exchanged a glance, conversing silently in the way long-held partners could. Are they trouble? Possibly, but not for us. Is it safe? I would think so. Are we going to regret letting them in? We'll regret turning them out even more.

"Certainly," Bella finally said. She and Bungo stepped aside to allow Thräin and his surly, bristling companion (was that an oak branch on his hip?) into their home.

"So what can we do for you, Master Thräin?" Bungo asked politely -if a bit stiffly- once the door was shut behind them. "Would you like anything eat or drink, can I offer you some tea, perhaps? Or something stronger?"

Thrain shook his head, following Bella as she guided the two dwarrows into the sitting room. "No, but thank you for your hospitality. As I said, we won't be long."

The other dwarf rumbled out something in what Bella assumed was Khudzel. Thrain shook his head in response and turned to face the two hobbits fully. "I hope you can pardon my rudeness, but time is of the essence. This is my son, Thorin," and here the elder of the two dwarrows indicated his younger companion. "We are traveling with a company of our kinsmen, but he and I have parted from them temporarily to make some inquiries in the Shire."

"Inquiries?" Bella asked, confused and a little put off by Thrain's solemnness. "Inquiries into what?"

"Into the whereabouts of several Men and a wagon." It was Thorin who spoke when Thrain took a moment too long to answer. "These men have... taken something precious from us, and we want it back. I was hoping that you might have heard something, if they traveled through the Shire."

Bella frowned and looked over at Bungo, who was hovering near his armchair but hadn't had the courage to sit down yet. Bungo shook his head. "I'm sorry to hear that, gentleman. But if such men have passed through the Shire, we've not heard nor seen them," he said apologetically.

"That's not to say they haven't been here, of course," Bella added. "If you'd like, I could go over to Tuckborough and ask some of my relatives if they've heard anything. If anyone has heard or seen anything of that sort, it'll be a Took. One that isn't me, anyway. It's a bit late to be going today, but I could have an answer for you by this time tomorrow."

Thrain pursed his lips. "If you would ask and send the answer by letter to Bree, to the Green Dragon, it would be much appreciated."

"Certainly, I could do that. Our son is visiting family there, anyway, so I have an excuse to stop by."

Thorin twitched oddly when Bella mentioned Bilbo, though he tried to disguise it by turning away to look out the window. It made the unease twisting in her gut grow all the more potent.

Thrain murmured something to his son in that gutteral language before turning back to the Bagginses. "Thorin and I need to be on our way, now, but we thank you for your time and help," he said. Bungo and Bella offered a few pleasantries and showed he and Thorin to the door to bid them farewell.

The dwarrows had taken no more than a few steps when Thorin suddenly stopped and turned around. "Your son," he said, "do you treasure your time with him?"

Bella blinked. "Of course," she answered, because she could feel Bungo start to bristle with anger. "There's nothing more dear to us than our Bilbo."

The younger dwarf blew out a loud breath."Make sure he knows that. And keep an eye on him," he said, then turned on his heel and stalked off.

"Well," Bella quipped as they watched the two figures shrink into the distance, "that was certainly an odd little visit."

"Indeed," Bungo agreed gruffly. He took a deep breath, visibly trying to shake off whatever feelings the visit had inspired in him. "Shall we go and have ourselves some tea, then?" he asked more cheerfully. If it was a bit forced... well. It had been a strange visit.

Bella smiled at her husband and linked their arms. "I think that's a lovely idea," she answered. Together they turned and went back into their smial.


	4. Chapter Three

Bella hopped off the wagon and waved her thanks to Farmer Maggot. He tipped his hat and snapped his reigns, whistling for his ponies to get going.

Tuckborough was exactly how Bella remembered it. It helped that she saw it at least once a month, but little seemed to have changed even since her childhood. The matriarch of Bag-End hummed as she walked down the winding paths that would bring her to the Great Smials, yesterday's unease dismissed like a bad dream. She waved at her former neighbours as she passed them, calling out greetings to friends and strangers alike.

The door to Bella's ancestral home opened as a younger woman stepped out. She looked up, peering through a fringe of dark curls - then did a double-take as she spotted Bella coming down the path.

Bella grinned. "Mira!" called out, "I'm surprised to see you out of bed so early!".

"Bella!" Mirabella waved like a madwoman and ran out to meet her sister. "Well hello there, darling, we weren't expecting you!"

"I apologize for arriving unannounced-"

"Oh, to hell with that, you know it's not a problem." Mira grinned and grabbed Bella up in a rough hug. "Come in, come in, it's too late for second breakfast but we might have something for elevensies..."

They linked arms and wandered inside, chatting about this and that. In the kitchen, Donnamira's little girl was playing with a set of wooden blocks on the ground, well out of the way but still within reaching distance.

"So what brings you down to the old homestead?" Mira asked as she started rumaging through cabinets. "And where's the little one? I'm surprised you didn't bring Bilbo in with you."

Any sense of well-being Bella had felt fled immediately. "...I beg your pardon?" she asked, fighting to keep her voice steady. "Isn't Bilbo here?"

Mira stopped and looked back at her sister in confusion. "No? He wasn't on the wagon when it came, the other faunts said he had to go back home. Jessamine, what was it that you said yesterday?"

"Bilbo went with a Ranger," Jessamine answered dutifully without looking up from her blocks. "The Ranger said he was a friend of yours and that you needed him back at home, and that he was to take Bilbo back to Bag-End with him."

Bella felt her all of her blood had been replaced with icewater. Kneeling down next to the little girl, she forced the panic out of her voice and asked, "Which Ranger, dear? Can you describe him for me?"

Jessa wrinkled her nose in thought. "He was old," she said after a moment, "his hair was all white, and his beard was long and scraggly. I thought he sounded kind of mean for a Ranger, but Papa says some Rangers sound like that."

Bella knew of no Rangers matching that description. Moreover, Rangers were required to keep their beards short so that they couldn't catch in anything. Suddenly, her conversation with Thrain and Thorin came rushing back, the dwarrowmen's words and actions suddenly clicking into place.

They took something precious from us.

Your son...

Keep an eye on him.

"Bella?" Mira shook Bella's shoulder, startling the elder woman from her reverie. "Bella, what's going on? If Bilbo's not here and not at Bag-End, where is he?"

Bella took a deep breath. "I'm not certain," she said grimly, "but I think I know someone who does." She got to her feet and grasped Mira by the arm. "Do me a favor, please? Go to the stablemaster and tell her that I need the swiftest pony she's got. She can go to my accountant to finalize the purchase."

Mira looked confused but didn't argue, thank goodness, just gave her sister a quick hug and swept out of the kitchen. Bella marched out as well, though her destination was on the other side of the Smials.

Thanking all the Vala for her eldest brother's wisdom of installing a pigeon coop right inside the Great Smials, she snagged a scrap of paper off the desk in the adjoining office and scribbled out a quick letter to Bungo.

Emergency. Will explain when I get home. Please start packing my traveling bag for a long trip.

Because Bella doubted that her troubles would end in Bree. She rolled up the paper, secured it to one of her pigeons and let the bird out the window before practically running out the door for the stables.

\---

Bungo was waiting with her pack just inside the entrance hall. He looked more than a little surprised when Bella burst in with barely-concealed panic. Her ability to keep a cool head was almost legendary. "Bella, are you alright? What's happened?"

Bella had spent the entire ride back to Bag-End trying to figure out the best way to break it to Bungo that their son was missing. Wordsmithing had never been her forté, however, so in the end she just blurted out, "Bilbo's not at home."

Of course, Bungo just looked confused. "Of course he's not at home, he's at your parents' house." Then he seemed to remember the letter she'd sent, and Bella could actually see him putting two and two together. "He is at your parents house, isn't he?"

Bella was silent. Bungo went dead white. "Bella-"

She cut him off. "Yesterday, Thrain said that the men he and Thorin were searching for had taken something precious. What's more precious than a child?"

Bungo swiped a shaking hand across his face. "You're going after them." It was not a question.

Bella nodded. Her husband swallowed and said, "I'm coming with you."

Swiftly as she could, Bella crossed the threshold and gathered Bungo into her arms. "Bungo," she murmured, "love, you can't come with me. You need to stay here, in case - in case -" She swallowed. "In case I'm wrong, and Bilbo's found somewhere in the Shire. In case he comes home. We can't both be gone then, yeah?"

Neither of them voiced how unlikely it was that Bilbo would come home to them alive. Bungo's arms tightened around her. "I can't lose you," he whispered, anguished. "Not both of you. What would I do without you?"

Bella bit back her tears and tried to smile. Judging by her husband's overly-bright eyes, she didn't succeed. "I'll come back to you," she promised, cupping his cheek, "I swear, I'll come back to you, and I'll bring Bilbo home with me."

Bungo didn't reply. He squeezed her tightly one more time, and then let her go. "I'll wait for you, then," he said, and neither of them commented on how his voice broke. "You should get going. Light's a-wasting."

He walked her down to the pony, helped her shoulder her pack and hoisted her onto the pony's back. Bella hardly needed help with either, but she didn't argue. Once she was settled, Bungo pulled her down for one last kiss. Bella wondered if it tasted as bitter sweet to him as it did to her.

Then they were pulling away, and Bungo smacked the flank of her pony, and off she went.

As she left her home behind her, Bella couldn't help but look back and notice how empty Bag-End looked, or how Bungo seemed so small.


	5. Chapter Four

In her youth, Bella had made it her mission to map out every path to Bree, first from Tuckborough and then from Hobbiton. She used that knowledge now, pushing her pony as hard as he would go through footpaths and back roads. Even still, it was growing dark when she arrived, and Bella feared she might be to late.

As it turned out, she wasn't. Upon informing the gatekeeper that she had urgent business with them, he helpfully pointed her in the direction he'd last seen dwarf men matching Thorin and Thrain's description - and they were not, Bella was surprised to hear, the only dwarrows in town.

Stranger and stranger. Bella thanked the man, gave him some coin to take her pony to the stable and told him to grab a pint on the Took tab.

Sure enough, just a few streets ahead, Bella could pick out Thrain's one-eyed person out of a crowd of other dwarrows, heading for the inn.

"Thrain!" she cried out, running hard in order to catch up with him. "Thrain, wait!"

The dwarf-king turned around and blinked. "Belladonna?" he asked incredulously, "What are you - why are you here?"

She ignored his questions. "The men you spoke of yesterday," she countered instead, chest still heaving with the efforts of her mad dash,"what was it that they took from you? What did they steal?"

Thrain's eyes went cold. "It doesn't concern you, Mistr- Missus Baggins," he said with obvious and cutting dismissal. "If you have no news for us, then I suggest you return to your home."

Bella saw red. She caught the dwarf by the lapels and started shaking him with more violence than she thought herself capable of, as if the answers she wanted would fall out if she did it hard enough. "Doesn't concern me?!" she all but shrieked. "My son is missing, the same day you came into my home and told me that these men had taken something precious-!"

Strong arms pulled her away, and Bella suddenly found herself facing another dwarf. This one was the spitting image of a younger Thorin, minus the mustache. "Peace, madame!" he demanded. "Do you know who I am?"

Bella shook her head, swiping a hand across her face and trying to reassemble the tattered remnants of her dignity.

"I am Dís, daughter of Thrain. I believe you met my brother earlier and my father earlier still, but none of that's important." He - she fixed a piercing gaze on Bella, one that conveyed both anger and sorrow. "What is important is that I fear your son is suffering the same fate as both of mine, and that of our companions' kin."

For the first time, Bella took a good look at the other dwarrows with Thrain and his children. They appeared to be from all walks of life; rough, surly characters with tattooes and an assortment of weapons on their persons, elderly scholar types who were dressed well, if a little road-worn. The man hovering behind Dís used string to bind back his blond hair, which still looked tame compared to the star-shaped quaff one dwarrowman was sporting. Next to them, the lad in the earflap hat looked practically ordinary.

Confused and exhausted by the day's events, Bella felt completely frazzled. Dís seemed to sense this, because her grip turned gentle, supporting rather than holding back. "Join us," she said softly. "We were just returning to our rooms at the Green Dragon. We will explain there."

What else could Bella do? "Alright," she agreed, and they went.

\---

The rooms the dwarrows had arranged had a little sitting room between them, which was where they now gathered around a Man-sized table in tall but appropriately proportioned chairs. Dís had wanted to start at the beginning of the story for her explanation. Bella had politely asked her to get to the point instead. Dís did.

"I beg your pardon," Bella said flatly. "These men intend to feed our children to a dragon in exchange for gold? Thats the most absurd thing I've ever heard. How does one even come up with such an idea?"

"Believe me now when I say we need to start from the beginning?" Dís asked with a crooked grin.

Bella rubbed her forehead. "I suppose you'd better."

Still  grinning ruefully, Dís motioned to the dwarrowman with the string-bound hair. "This is my husband, Vali," Vali gave her a strained smile and a little wave. "The two next to him are brothers, Balin and Dwalin."

The other introductions continued in the same vein. Gloin was a fierce-looking fellow, while his older brother was slightly hard of hearing. Dori and Nori were another unlikely pair, and Bella suspected that there might be a little bit of bad blood between them, but that wasn't for her to judge. Bofur, who seemed sad and quiet, sat off to the side with Bombur and Bifur, who were his brother and cousin, respectively.

"And of course you've met my father and brother," Dís finished. Thrain smiled tiredly, while Thorin simply nodded.

Bella nodded back. "Under other circumstances I'm sure I'd be pleased to meet you all. Right now I would really just like a clear explanation as to what happened to my son, if you'd please."  

Thrain sighed. "Nearly two months ago now, a caravan of men approached our settlement in Ered Luin, supposedly delivering something to a local clan. They sulked around our borders for a few weeks, but as they didn't cause any trouble, we left them alone."

"We shoulda killed 'em when we had the chance," Dwalin rumbled. It made Bella's hands tighten unconciously on the fabric of her pants.

Bofur spoke up then, as if Dwalin hadn't said anything. "I was watching the boys that day. They wanted to play outside, in the little patch of green on the slope." The be-hatted dwarf swallowed and stared at his feet. It made him look very young. "I - I don't know how it happened. I heard him come up behind me, and I turned around and the had a bat-"

"One of the men clubbed my brother in the head hard enough to knock him sensless and then some," Bombur finished over Bofur's heaving breaths. "Another used the distraction to grab one of the littler ones and used him as a hostage to convince the others to go with them."

"That was nearly a month ago," Thrain finished. It occured to Bella that he had to be getting very old; in that moment, he certainly looked it.

Bella took a deep breath. "Alright. That's - okay. Go back to the part where these men want to feed our children to a dragon."

Thrain grimaced. "I assume you have some knowledge as to the state of affairs in Erebor?"

"You mean that there's a great awful dragon sitting in it? Yes, I made that connection. But how in Yavanna's name did they decide feeding it children will get them some gold?"

Vali chimed in then. "The men who remain in the town near the Lonely Mountain sometimes tease their children by saying the bad ones will be fed to the dragon, and get their weight of gold in return." The blond man shrugged. "Obviously they weren't being serious. I guess the men in question heard some mother threatening her naughty child that way and took it more seriously than was ever intended."

Beside him, Thorin spoke Westron for the first time in Bella's presence. "As for 'why them': every one of our boys is of the line of Durin. In particular, my sister-sons are of great political value. I suspect that some dissatisfied dwarrows encouraged the misconception the men had adopted, and that royal children would garner a royal share of treasure from the dragon."

"And Bilbo?" Bella asked. "Why take him? What purpose does his kidnapping serve"

It was Gloin who shrugged and said, "Wrong place, wrong time? Poor lad probably saw too much and became a liabilty. Easier to toss 'im in with the rest than to let him go."

Bella chewed her lower lip. That didn't match up with what Mirabella's girl had said. She kept that to herself, though, since these dwarrows obviously knew nothing about the kidnappers beyond the basics.

"Alright," she said instead, "how early in the morning are we leaving?"

The entire room seemed to jump with surprise. "'We?'" Thorin repeated incredulously. "No, Missus Baggins, there is no we. We're more than happy to return your son to you, but this will not be a kind journey; it will be no place for softer folk like yourself."

Oh, so she was soft, was she? "Fine," Bella replied, flashing a bright, toothy grin that had made lesser men take two steps back in terror. She hopped down from her chair and brushed imaginary dust of the knees of her trousers. "Right then. I suppose I'll be seeing you all on the other side of the Misty Mountains, then."

"And how do you propose to do that, ma'am?" Nori asked laconically. If anyone else had asked, Bella would have assumed it was a question made in jest, but she suspected that this dwarf had a genuine desire to know her methods.

The hobbit raised her chin in defiance anyway. " If Thrain has spoken anything about me, you'll likely know I am a friend to the elves of Imladris," she said, sparking a furious murmur from around the table. "I traveled to and from the Last Homely House many times in my youth and young womanhood. I know the quickest routes there, and I'm certain Lord Elrond will be happy to aid me, and his people have a direct route over the Misty Mountains. I could easily be on the other side of the Greenwood this time next month. From there... well. It would get a little hairy then, I suspect, but I'm resourceful. I'm sure I'll get by."

Bella smile hadn't dropped an inch for all of her talking, but now she could feel it turn fierce. "How far do you think you'd be by then? Through the Misty Mountains? That far, even?" She loked at their faces, watching her words sink in.

Thorin in particular seemed resistant to her reasoning, as it were. "I'll not beg at the feet of elves," he spat. "We still have our pride!"

"Damn your pride," Bella snapped, "I want my son back. So we can help each other - and I promise you that Lord Elrond will help us, minimal begging required and on my part only. Or we can be at odds, and be each less for it."

"Agreed." Bella blinked. She watched as Dís and Vali exchanged a look, and as one stood up and away from the table. "If you can do as you say, Missus Baggins," Vali continued, "then I, for one, will be forever in your debt."

"And don't you argue, Thorin," Dís said pointedly to her brother. "If you think I won't go as far as asking elves for aid to recover my sons, you're dead wrong."

Another murmur went up around the table, this one sounding more agreeable than the last. One by one, each dwarf agreed that the best they could do for their children was to utilize all possible resources, no matter how distasteful they may be. Even Thorin was eventually swayed.

But of all the reactions she could have gotten, Thrain's was the last she would have expected: the dwarf-king threw back his head and laughed.

Bella would admit that she was a little miffed by it.

"Ah, Bella," Thrain chuckled, "I owe you an apology. I forgot just how remarkable you are, old friend. I should never have doubted you." He got to his feet, standing tall and straight and for a moment it felt like Bella was a tween again. "So be it," he announced to the room at large. "We leave at dawn. Missus Baggins, we'll be counting on you. Lead us to our sons, and we'll show those men what happens when you cross the Line of Durin."

Bella's lips curled up into a tight, vicious grin. "As long as I get to see it first hand."

Dís slung a companionable arm around her shoulders. "We'll show you how it's done," she said with an equally bloodthirsty smile. Bella looked forward to it.


End file.
